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4-5 Bonus Poker

Introduction

Bonus Poker, a variant I discovered at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 8, 2006, has a unique twist compared to traditional video poker, as players only receive four cards after the initial deal. This aspect makes it more challenging to build strong starting hands, but the game offers a better payout structure to offset this difficulty.

On that Saturday night, the game attracted so many players that every machine was occupied. I could only manage to jot down one pay table (for Bonus Poker) while awkwardly leaning over a stranger's shoulder.

The table below presents the payout rates, probabilities, and expected returns for each possible hand.

4-5 Bonus Poker

Hand Payoff Combinations Probability Return
Royal Flush 800 25,268,712 0.000011 0.008722
Straight Flush 100 122,051,604 0.000053 0.005266
Four aces 200 328,366,104 0.000142 0.028334
Four 2-4 100 680,971,104 0.000294 0.029380
Four 5-K 80 2,182,645,344 0.000942 0.075335
Full House 12 11,953,051,848 0.005157 0.061884
Flush 10 16,998,834,204 0.007334 0.073340
Straight 6 13,028,869,188 0.005621 0.033727
Three of a kind 4 127,022,432,184 0.054803 0.219210
Two pair 2 197,648,978,040 0.085274 0.170547
Pair of aces 2 141,799,463,640 0.061178 0.122356
Pair: J-K 1 343,532,231,028 0.148214 0.148214
Nonpaying hand 0 1,462,494,339,000 0.630979 0.000000
Total 0 2,317,817,502,000 1.000000 0.976315

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Strategies

Full-Pay Jacks or Better:

Full-Pay Deuces Wild:

Quick Quads:

Other Strategies: